


As Yet Untitled College AU

by Rachello344



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, I'm pretty much done with this 'verse, M/M, but each chapter will be a comfortable ending, characters and tags will be added as needed, composer!Shinichi, magician!Kaito, this story will update with new scenes as I write them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-22 20:25:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2520665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachello344/pseuds/Rachello344
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaito is surprised to learn that a TA for his criminal psychology class, Shinichi, composes in his spare time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meeting

Kaito glanced up from the stage schematics he was working with for his next performance as someone sat at the piano and began to play. He listened for a long moment, turning back to his work and enjoying the melody, when a strange chord rang out.  He couldn’t help but flinch.

The music stopped and, as Kaito glanced back, the man at the piano wrote a few things down and crossed out something else before turning back to the keys and starting again.

He was _composing._ Kaito was definitely impressed.  The guy had an impressive grasp on musical structure, and his melody sounded _awesome._ Kaito nodded along to the music happily and got back to planning.

When the music stopped and showed no sign of starting back up, Kaito turned to get a look at the dorm’s resident composer. Kaito leaned back in surprise.  This guy was one of the TAs for his criminal psychology class and was definitely _not_ a music major.  Kaito stared at him as he put away his notebook, unable to quite grasp the dichotomy between composing and criminal justice.  He supposed everyone had their hobbies, but… composing was a new one.

The TA glanced up and met his eyes.

“You’re in Hakuba’s discussion section, aren’t you?” the TA asked, shouldering his backpack. Kaito blinked at him in surprise.

“Uh, yeah, Kuroba Kaito.” The TA smirked and turned his head like he was going to laugh.  “Something funny?” Kaito asked.

“I shouldn’t tell you this—and if anyone asks me, I didn’t—but you listened to my incomplete piece without complaint: Hakuba complains about you.  Often,” the TA said, still snickering.  He stopped suddenly, turning back to face Kaito fully.  “I’m being rude, not introducing myself…  I’m Kudo Shinichi.”

Kaito grinned.

“Nice to meet you, Kudo. I enjoyed it; I’d love to hear it when it’s finished.  The melody’s already stuck in my head, after all.”  He laughed at the pleased look on Kudo’s face.  “In the meantime, though, I’m going to be thinking very hard about this new information…”  Kaito winked.

“Whatever you do to Hakuba, I told you nothing.” Kudo reminded him sternly.  “Off the record, I am looking forward to hearing what you end up doing.  His stories are _always_ entertaining.”  Kudo snickered again, shaking his head.  “I particularly enjoyed the impromptu magic show study session.”

Kaito sat up straighter, puffing up a bit at the compliment.

“And, you didn’t hear it from me, but as long as you keep your grades up, he can’t actually do anything, especially not when we grade the papers together.” Kudo started heading for the door, but paused.  “I work on my music at this time on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Since you were interested.”

Kaito grinned at his retreating figure. God, this was a great day.  He’d gotten to listen to a cool song, _and_ hear that Hakuba was reacting to his pranks out of section. _Hell_ yeah.  With time, he thought he and Kudo might even get to be friends.  And after that, they’d just have to see where things went.

Kaito couldn’t wait.


	2. Playing Together

“No, Kudo, I don’t play piano. I just have a good ear,” he insisted, holding his hands up as he took a step back.

“Don’t be stubborn. I need someone to play the other half of this duet, and you’re the only one who knows anything about how I work.”  Kudo crossed his arms, staring Kaito down.  “I’ll teach you to play if I have to, just sit down on my left so I can keep working.”

Kaito considered his options. He could refuse and go back to homework, disappointing his friend, and possibly ruining his chances at dating him.  He could explain that he _did_ know how to play the piano, and preferred not to play, but was willing to make an exception for his _dear detective_.  He could let Shinichi teach him to play piano and flirt with him while they were pressed together on the bench with Kudo’s hands on his.

Kaito sighed dramatically.

“Twist my arm,” he teased, settling onto the bench beside Kudo. “Well, how am I supposed to do this?”

After about thirty minutes after starting—thirty minutes of Kudo’s undivided attention and near constant contact—Kudo was clearly getting suspicious. He kept shooting Kaito narrow-eyed looks when he thought Kaito was focusing on the sheet music.  Kudo was clearly not aware that Kaito had already memorized most of the part he was supposed to play.

“Are you _sure_ you’ve never played before?” Kudo finally asked.  Kaito laughed awkwardly.  It was now or never, he supposed.  If he outright lied, Kudo would probably get mad and leave.

“Okay, so I never said I’d never played before, you inferred that yourself.” Kaito explained.  Kudo was clearly not amused.

“You said you couldn’t play,” Kudo countered.

“No, no, I said I _don’t_ play.  There’s a difference,” Kaito said with a cheeky grin.

“Semantics,” Kudo scowled. “This whole time, you’ve been pretending you couldn’t play for what?  To make fun of me?”

“Never,” Kaito insisted, shaking his head. “I thought about just telling you, but, well, I wanted an excuse to sit closer to you.”  Kaito watched as Kudo’s cheeks reddened.  He coughed and turned quickly away.

“Well, you won’t be able to mislead me about your piano playing anymore, so we should play the piece properly.” Kudo refused to make eye contact, focusing on the piano.  Kaito was delighted to realize that he wasn’t putting space between them.

“Let’s do it,” Kaito agreed.

The song sounded amazing between the two of them, the harmony and melody flowing easily together. Kaito closed his eyes for a moment, just taking it all in as he played.  The warmth of Kudo pressed along his side, the music settling in the air around them…  Kaito would be happy to stay here forever, but the song eventually wound down.

After the final chord had long since faded, Kaito finally bumped his shoulder against Kudo’s. They exchanged cheesy smiles, both delighted by the finished product.

“Kudo, you’ve done it again. That show’s going to sound even better with this behind it,” Kaito knew he should probably tone down the smile, but he couldn’t help himself.  He helped make something as beautiful as the song was, helped _Kudo_.

“Shinichi,” Kudo said after a moment. Kaito found himself holding his breath.  “Call me Shinichi,” he repeated, meeting Kaito’s dumbfounded expression.

“Then you should definitely call me Kaito.”

“It’s a deal.”


	3. Telling Hakuba

“Kudo, I thought we were _friends!_ ” Kaito heard from around the corner.  He hesitated.  He was supposed to meet Shinichi here, and it would probably be wrong to eavesdrop, but Hakuba sounded so _betrayed_.  Kaito couldn’t _really_ be expected to do anything until he knew why, right?

“Don’t be so dramatic; of course we’re friends,” Kaito heard Shinichi say. Based on the tone, Shinichi was probably rolling his eyes.

“Then how could you date that—that _terror_?” Hakuba demanded.  Based on Kaito’s prior experience, his face was probably getting red.  “I thought you had better taste,” Hakuba added, quieter.

“We’re not even dating yet, Hakuba. We’re just hanging out.”  Shinichi said reasonably.

“You want to date him, though. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

Shinichi looked at him differently than he looked at other people? Kaito didn’t know that.  How did he look at other people if the way he looked at Kaito was different?

“Of course I want to date him. He makes me happy.”  Kaito beamed and almost walked around the corner to hug his absolute favorite detective.  “I’m just waiting until I’m not one of his TAs anymore.”

“At least you’re being sensible.” Hakuba sighed, sounding put-upon.

“Honestly, Hakuba, it’s not like you can talk. I didn’t give you a hard time when you started dating my _best friend_.”  Hakuba started to cough uncomfortably.  “The way I see it, you owe me.  When we start dating, I’m going to expect you both to be on your best behavior.  Do you both understand?”

Kaito frowned for a moment. What did Shinichi mean by “both?”  He heard Hakuba expressing a similar confusion, followed by an amused snort from Shinichi.

“Kaito’s been listening around that corner for the past several minutes. Right, Kaito?”

Kaito grimaced and stepped around the corner, schooling his features into a sheepish grin.

“What gave me away?” he asked Shinichi, ignoring Hakuba’s glare.

“You’re unfailingly early. The time you were supposed to meet me is now, so it made sense that you’d stopped to eavesdrop.”  Shinichi shrugged.  “It was a simple deduction.”

Kaito laughed, “As expected of my Great Detective.”

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but his smile was getting positively _fond_.  Kaito returned the expression, swaying happily from foot to foot.

“No,” Hakuba said suddenly. “Nope, I’m leaving.  I don’t want to watch the two of you make eyes at each other.”  Hakuba shuddered.  Kaito raised an eyebrow at Shinichi.  “I am very happy that you are happy Kudo, far be it from me to understand why you chose _Kuroba_ , but so be it.  I will see you in class tomorrow.”

He then very quickly turned on his heel and walked away. Kaito was sure he heard him muttering something about not deserving something, but he was already too far away.  He shrugged it off and turned his full attention back to Shinichi.

“Are you ready to go? The performance call is at 7, so we should get there early.”

“Then let’s go,” Shinichi agreed, accepting Kaito’s offered arm.

Kaito hummed a song happily. They were going to see some of the best up-and-coming magicians in the area _and_ get dinner.  Maybe by next year _he’d_ be performing…

“I’m sorry we can’t date properly yet. I just wouldn’t feel right about it,” Shinichi said after a moment, distracting Kaito from his thoughts of stardom.

“It’s not a big deal,” Kaito said. “Besides, this way I get to court you properly.  I like it.”  Kaito didn’t think he’d ever be able to explain how much he liked taking things slowly.  With everything else in his life moving as quickly as it did, it was nice to be able to slow down with Shinichi.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve someone as understanding as you, Kaito,” Shinichi said quietly, sounding almost humbled. Kaito leaned into him for a moment.

“I could say the same to you, Shinichi. Most people think I’m crazy, not understanding.”

“I never said you _weren’t_ crazy.”

The answer was so blunt that Kaito couldn’t help but laugh long and loud. He was so glad he’d found Shinichi when he had.  God, they were going to be the best couple.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not authorize the redistribution or use of my work outside of this site. If you would like me to consider posting my work to another site, you may ask me about it, and I will consider doing so. I consider reposting my work without my permission a violation. At this time, I post my work here and on fanfiction.net.


End file.
